When I started farming in Suffolk some 22 years ago, the farming industry had been through various crises from foot and mouth to BSE. Throughout those tough times I witnessed how the loyal British public rallied to support the farming community, understanding the importance of the agricultural sector, not only in terms of providing our food but also protecting our countryside.
Now, if it wasn’t hard enough for small family farms being hit with the new inheritance tax bills in the recent Budget, there is another sinister threat on the horizon. This time it’s happening silently on our supermarket shelves – and it’s a phenomenon called “farmwashing”.
We’ve all seen Union Jacks plastered across supermarket aisles, often alongside packaging claiming to support British farmers. But if you dig a little deeper, the reality is often very different. With farmwashing, supermarkets sell produce using fake farm brands and plentiful Union Jacks to mislead you into thinking you’re buying from a traditional British farm.
But in reality, much of that food is coming from large, faceless operations that have nothing to do with the British countryside, and which may even be grown overseas. It looks as if it comes from quaint British farms, with products wrapped in patriotic imagery and the Union Jack, and takes advantage of the growing consumer demand for locally sourced, sustainable food – but hides the true origins of their products.
A perfect current example of this comes in the fruit aisle. It’s British apple season right now, but very few of our apples are on the shelves. Many are from New Zealand or South Africa – but you might still see Union Jacks on the packaging. In doing this, supermarkets are exploiting the trust and nostalgia people have for British farming. That can’t be right.
Farmwashing is not just a clever marketing trick. It is dismantling British farming principles and threatening the very survival of Britain’s traditional family farms.
The statistics are damning. Research commissioned by the organic veg box company Riverford recently discovered that 61% of farmers are concerned they may have to give up their farms within the next 18 months. And despite claims by supermarkets to support British farming, only 1 in 4 British farmers believe these claims are credible and backed up by supermarket buying behaviour.
From delivery trucks to misleading store displays, we shouldn’t tolerate farmwashing. Supermarkets have a responsibility to be scrupulously honest with their customers, and consumers deserve clear, transparent information about where their food comes from.
Through selling my own produce at various farmers markets and food events, I’ve noticed that customers really want to engage with farmers and producers. This is borne from their desire to support small local farmers and to hear how their food is produced. With farmwashing, these heartwarming farming stories are being hijacked and customers with good intentions are being betrayed.
But there is hope.
When I teamed up with Riverford to launch the Farmers Against Farmwashing campaign, we sought to bring this behaviour into the public sphere and hold the major supermarkets to account. In the short time since we launched, over 10,000 people have sent a letter to their MP calling for an end to farmwashing. That’s a serious noise being made in the inboxes of decision-makers who can make a difference.
Customers can also help themselves. I urge you all to dig deeper into the origins of the food you buy. Check the label. Read the back of the packaging. Where possible, support trusted local farms and direct-from-farmer purchases.
But political action is also now needed to ensure that when people “buy British”, they’re genuinely supporting British farmers and not being misled by farmwashing. For those who want see how widespread these deceptive practices are, I encourage you to watch Riverford’s mini-film series via the website belowstopfarmwashing.co.uk, which shines a light on farmwashing, so you can know how to spot it.
Despite this outcry, the “big six” supermarkets have yet to take meaningful action.
They know that farmwashing works as it boosts their profits. But this misuse of your trust puts the future of British farming at serious risk.
We’re at a tipping point and it’s time to demand change. I urge you to make your voice heard by emailing your MP via our website. The letter calls for stronger regulations on supermarkets to prevent them from exploiting British farmers with unfair practices. When it comes to it, most of us want to preserve traditional British farming.
Farmwashing is about more than marketing – it’s about survival. Our small family farms are under threat. If we don’t take action now, it won’t just be farms disappearing from the landscape but entire ways of life will also vanish.
Jimmy Doherty is a farmer and broadcaster and a part of campaign group Farmers Against Farmwashing, see stopfarmwashing.co.uk